It appears that in their rush to help Vernon Township and Mountain Creek solve their financial problems, State Senator Oroho, Assemblyman Space and Assemblyman Wirths (24th District) have sponsored bills (A5692 & S3941) proposing to reduce the state sales tax by half in the municipalities located within the Highlands Region Preservation Area (which includes Byram, Green, Hardyston, Hopatcong, Ogdensburg, Sparta and Vernon in Sussex County). Oroho, Space and Wirths are thereby obviously knowingly and intentionally proposing to throw thousands of other businesses (owners and employees) in northwestern New Jersey, but not in the Highlands Region Preservation Area (in Wantage Township, Sussex Borough, Newton & etc. in Sussex County), under the bus. Will all of these other businesses just be written off as collateral damages?
If you were planning on making a significant purchase, how far would you be willing to travel to save $33, $331, $662, or even more?
Sussex County is a commuting county. Many Sussex County residents presently commute into or through the Highlands Area every day. If you could save 3.3125% on every purchase that you could make while commuting, why would you even consider buying local?
How many millions of dollars in sales tax revenues will the state stand to lose each year with the implementation of this proposed new Enterprise Zone, and what steps will the state take to recoup this lost sales tax revenue?
Based on the implementation of the existing Enterprise Zones, the state should have rooms full of data concerning these obvious problems. The public needs to be informed about these problems.
Obviously, I believe that Oroho, Space and Wirths must immediately retract their Bills, A5692 & S3941.
If Oroho, Space and Wirths really want to do something that would actually benefit their constituents, they could try acting like conservative Republicans by immediately sponsoring legislation to eliminate all of the existing Enterprise Zones. No exceptions! This would eliminate many, many state regulations and also level the playing field so that everyone in the state would be paying the same sales tax rate. Then the millions of dollars in additional sales tax revenue collected by the State each year could hopefully be used to reduce the sales tax rate.
William H. Gettler
Wantage Township